2. Quick Write - Pre-Reading or Initiating Reading Strategy
Rationale:
• My rationale for using this topic is to connect to students' pre-existing knowledge concerning the subject at hand. This will help them make connections and read for understanding as we begin our study of Lois Lowry's The Giver.
• I chose this strategy because I wanted to know what and how much background knowledge students had concerning a Utopian Society. This science fiction novel is about a Utopian Society. Using this reading strategy allows me to get the students involved with the book and helps them begin to think about this in terms of the setting of the novel. My accelerated 8th grade Language Arts students studied this unit. The Giver is a little difficult to understand for the stuggling and average Language Arts students; therefore, I usually reserve this particular Quick Write reading strategy lesson for the accelerated Language Arts classes. I have used Quick Writes with all of the students at one time or another.
Courses in which it could be implemented:
• This is an 8th grade accelerated Language Arts class. It consists of 30 students who are above average readers and writers. A Quick Write would be easily used with any concept in a variety of subjects. I could see a math teacher using it for concepts he/she is teaching in math.
Implementation:
• At the very beginning of a lesson, before beginning The Giver , I have students think of as many associated ideas as possible about what they consider to be a Utopian Society. I have them consider the rules and laws and problems of our own society and what they think is important to make our society as close to "perfect" as possible. This will get the students to connect to prior knowledge regarding the topic.
Procedure:
1. The teacher formulates a statement or a question related to the content for students to respond to within a specified amount of time, usually five to seven minutes.
2. The students are told that the purpose is for them to express their thoughts and ideas without concern for the mechanics of writing because I will not be grading it based upon their grammatical errors.
3. When the time limit expires, students share their responses with a partner or as a whole group. Many times I have done whole group, but the pairing and sharing works well also.
Diversity:
• This reading strategy is exceptional for targeting all students regardless of their diverse learning needs. This Quick Write Reading Strategy is advantageous for all students. Writing to a topic helps students think it through and allows students to write what ever comes to them and not worry about spelling or grammatical rules necessarily. Therefore, students who have problems spelling, punctuating or using proper grammar rules consistently will not be sidetracked with the conventions. Instead, they only need to think about one thing - the content for the concept or topic they are writing on. This is a beneficial strategy or struggling readers and writers. Although I used it with my accelerated students in this particular lesson, I have also used it with my inclusion students how struggle in the Language Arts area.
Potential Issues:
• I don't see any difficulties or potential issues because I've used it on many occasions for a vareity of topcis and units in 8th grade Language Arts. I have even done Quick Writes with a narrative prompt and had students "pass back" when the timer goes off after 3 minutes where they continue on where the previous student left off. We do this 4 or 5 times and have students read the stories at the end. Students enjoy Quick Writes especially used as narrative "pass back" stories. Several people have added to the story to make one narrative.
References (Bibliography Information & Cross reference the Resource Binder):
2. Quick Write - Pre-Reading or Initiating Reading Strategy
Rationale:
• My rationale for using this topic is to connect to students' pre-existing knowledge concerning the subject at hand. This will help them make connections and read for understanding as we begin our study of Lois Lowry's The Giver.
• I chose this strategy because I wanted to know what and how much background knowledge students had concerning a Utopian Society. This science fiction novel is about a Utopian Society. Using this reading strategy allows me to get the students involved with the book and helps them begin to think about this in terms of the setting of the novel. My accelerated 8th grade Language Arts students studied this unit. The Giver is a little difficult to understand for the stuggling and average Language Arts students; therefore, I usually reserve this particular Quick Write reading strategy lesson for the accelerated Language Arts classes. I have used Quick Writes with all of the students at one time or another.
Courses in which it could be implemented:
• This is an 8th grade accelerated Language Arts class. It consists of 30 students who are above average readers and writers. A Quick Write would be easily used with any concept in a variety of subjects. I could see a math teacher using it for concepts he/she is teaching in math.Implementation:
• At the very beginning of a lesson, before beginning The Giver , I have students think of as many associated ideas as possible about what they consider to be a Utopian Society. I have them consider the rules and laws and problems of our own society and what they think is important to make our society as close to "perfect" as possible. This will get the students to connect to prior knowledge regarding the topic.Procedure:
1. The teacher formulates a statement or a question related to the content for students to respond to within a specified amount of time, usually five to seven minutes.2. The students are told that the purpose is for them to express their thoughts and ideas without concern for the mechanics of writing because I will not be grading it based upon their grammatical errors.
3. When the time limit expires, students share their responses with a partner or as a whole group. Many times I have done whole group, but the pairing and sharing works well also.
Diversity:
• This reading strategy is exceptional for targeting all students regardless of their diverse learning needs. This Quick Write Reading Strategy is advantageous for all students. Writing to a topic helps students think it through and allows students to write what ever comes to them and not worry about spelling or grammatical rules necessarily. Therefore, students who have problems spelling, punctuating or using proper grammar rules consistently will not be sidetracked with the conventions. Instead, they only need to think about one thing - the content for the concept or topic they are writing on. This is a beneficial strategy or struggling readers and writers. Although I used it with my accelerated students in this particular lesson, I have also used it with my inclusion students how struggle in the Language Arts area.
Potential Issues:
• I don't see any difficulties or potential issues because I've used it on many occasions for a vareity of topcis and units in 8th grade Language Arts. I have even done Quick Writes with a narrative prompt and had students "pass back" when the timer goes off after 3 minutes where they continue on where the previous student left off. We do this 4 or 5 times and have students read the stories at the end. Students enjoy Quick Writes especially used as narrative "pass back" stories. Several people have added to the story to make one narrative.
References (Bibliography Information & Cross reference the Resource Binder):
The University Writing Council
http://www.upei.ca/uwc/wac/strategies/quickwrite.html
Tina's Own Development. (2006) for Pre-Reading - Initiating Reading Strategy.